Mari Baker is the CEO of PlayFirst and the former CEO of Navigenics. Previous to that, she was an executive-in-residence at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which she joined in 2006. Prior to that, she was president of BabyCenter, LLC, a Johnson & Johnson company. Under her leadership, BabyCenter became the world's leading Web site for new and expectant parents, winning numerous online health awards and expanding significantly offline and internationally.

Prior to her tenure with BabyCenter and Johnson & Johnson, she was a senior vice president at Intuit, Inc., which she joined in 1989 as product manager for Quicken. Baker led Quicken to grow into the number one personal finance product in the world, along with international expansion and the launch of Quicken.com. Baker also held executive or product management positions at Now Software, Migent Software, and E.F. Hutton.

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Description

Kick in the door when it opens, says Mari Baker, CEO of PlayFirst, on her former affiliation with VC firm Kleiner Perkins. She transitioned from her executive roll at BabyCetner and soon sat in on pitch meetings, reviewing the portfolios of numerous start-up companies. Along the way, she took on an appreciation for the difficult choices made by venture capitalists. The experience taught her to be more thoughtful of approaching firms for future capital. It also solidified her understanding that being funded is more than just asking for cash; it's establishing a long-term relationship between the company and its funders.